Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter Two.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Note: For Disclaimers see chapter one. There are adult themes in this chapter. If you love Severus...find a cushion and some tissues. I know I needed them...

Chapter Two: Break

It did not take long for Severus' home in Spinner's End to come into view and, when it did, the boy began feeling uncomfortable. He was hesitant to approach the household; there was just something in the air that told him that something was not right. It was the result of a natural ability in all children, to detect danger in anything and anyone. Eileen Snape often stated that it was a primitive method of divination that everyone was born with and that could be cultivated when a child attends a magical educational facility.

Of course, such statements were beyond Severus' ability to understand at his age, but regardless...something was going to happen and young Severus knew it, even if he was unaware of how. The boy stopped walking, gripping the mystery man's hand quite tightly. The man turned his head and frowned down at the child worriedly, noting how Severus' already pale face had drained of more colour, his dark eyes were wide like those of a deer caught in a set of headlights. The boy started shaking, taking a step back as he glanced between the man and his home.

"Hey," the green-eyed man said, smiling softly at him, "it's alright." He crouched down so that he was level with Severus, just as he had at the playground. "There's no need to be scared, Severus. I'm sure everything will be fine; you're unharmed and haven't done anything that terrible. A lot of children go wandering at your age; it's up to the parents to keep an eye on their children. In this case, the parents are at fault, not you. If anyone gets angry with you, I'll stick up for you. Don't worry."

It was the tone, more than the words that convinced Severus to continue towards his homestead. However, as children were wont to do when frightened, he stayed quite close to the man's legs, one hand gripping the fabric of the man's trousers. When they neared Severus' home, the two of them entered through the rusted gate and approached the front door. In the small patch of earth beneath the living room window there grew several strange plants that Severus knew the man had never seen before.

Severus knew what the plants were, of course. He had often been recruited by Eileen to tend them and help her harvest the ingredients for her Potions. He knew nothing of properties or uses for ingredients yet, but already Severus was at the start of his journey towards mastery in Potions, though that knowledge was yet to be discovered by the boy himself. After eyeing the garden suspiciously, the mystery man led Severus to the front door of his home and rapped sharply upon the door.

Young Severus stepped even closer to the mystery man's legs, as if he could hide forever behind them. At first, there was nothing and then a mighty crash erupted from within the dwelling. Severus flinched; even the man gave a little start, taking an automatic step backwards. The front door was wrenched opened, revealing the face of Tobias Snape, whose skin had darkened with the strength of his anger. A vein in his forehead pulsed visibly under the pressure the man's emotions were exerting. "You!" Tobias hissed in anger, his dark eyes fixated upon his son, who was now cowering slightly behind the mystery man.

Severus whimpered, closing his eyes, hiding his face in the mystery man's trousers. The man hardened, taking a step towards the boy's father. "Now, see here, sir!" he said in a respectful, if authoritative, tone. "Calm yourself. I found your son wandering into the playground – as is the nature of a child. This poor boy doesn't deserve to have this anger directed at him. He's only a small child; he doesn't yet know right from wrong. Give him some time. It is, after all, your job to teach him and watch out for him."

"What gives you the right to interfere?" Tobias demanded, stepping forward and taking Severus firmly by the arm. With a harsh tug the boy was pulled inside and shoved into the hallway beyond the door. "Who the hell are you?"

The mystery man drew himself up to his full height, his chest puffing out slightly. It was quite clear he was a confident man and no other would deter him from speaking his mind – even if it was not strictly his place. "My name is Harold Evans. I'm a father, just like you," he said with dignity as he gazed right at Severus' father.

Tobias' jaw tightened and he stared right back at Mr Evans. "Is that so, Mr Evans? Well, you're not his, so get off my property or I'll call the Bobbies down here."

"You wouldn't dare," Mr Evans ground out, clearly forcing himself to remain calm. "I did you a favour by bringing your child home; I could have left him there – prey for any depraved soul."

"Nobody asked you to bring him home." With that, Tobias Snape slammed the door closed and Severus let out a small cry. Tobias was usually never this angry – especially not with Severus. This...new father scared him. For several moments Tobias gazed out the glass panel on the side of the door, clearly waiting for Mr Evans to depart. Then, slowly, in silence, Tobias started to turn around. One day, Severus would have chronic nightmares about this moment and for him they would always come to an end, but for young Severus...the end was nowhere in sight.

His breath carrying the tell-tale sign of alcohol and his eyes slightly bloodshot, Tobias stalked towards Severus. His rage was still evident and growing by the moment. Severus took a step back, his wide eyes locked upon the man he had once called father...but it was no longer him. This man...was a monster. Before it even entered Severus' mind to try to run, Tobias had caught his arm, gripping it so tightly it hurt. Severus let out a pained cry; were he older he would have feared his father might snap the bone clean in half. "Papa, you're hurting me," the boy said, tears filling his dark eyes, blurring his vision, as he struggled against his father's strong grip.

Tobias dragged him down the hall, the boy's feet scrabbling against the wooden floor, searching for purchase. Once they were far enough back from the front door Tobias threw the child down on the floor. Severus tried to crawl, but Tobias' foot came down on his shoulders, pinning him to the floor. At this point Severus was unable to stop the tears from cascading down his cheeks, no matter how hard he tried. He twisted and turned his head, trying to see what his father was doing and then he froze as a sound reached his ear.

It was the sound of leather sliding against cloth. Even his young mind knew what that sound was; Tobias was removing his belt. Though Severus would forever be unaware of it, out in the street Mr Evans hesitated to walk too far away from the house. It would seem to be chance that the man heard his first scream. Severus would never know it, but Mr Evans, who had seemed so brave earlier, was frightened away by a child's scream. Perhaps, for the world's future, that was a good thing...but Mr Evans would regret his flight until his very last breath...

Three Years Later...

"Run, Severus; hide! Quickly!" The words, rushed and fearful, tumbled from Eileen Snape's mouth as she ushered Severus out of the kitchen, where they had been working on a cauldron of Pepper-up together. He knew why she was doing so; Tobias' drunken singing was reaching his ears from down the road. The louder his voice, the more intoxicated the man typically was and it never boded well for the family. Severus, his face paler than normal, obeyed his mother without argument.

Though he knew she would be taking the brunt of Tobias' ire, he also knew that she would do it gladly if it meant Severus could stay out of harm's way...for a little while longer. While she was not the most kind-hearted woman, she was a mother to her core and would do anything for her young. His blood pounding in his ears, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps, Severus fled up the stairs, stumbling on his way. He hurt his knee when it collided, hard, against the staircase during his ascent.

Once he reached the top he hobbled, slightly, into his bedroom. He knew Tobias would expect him to avoid his own room, since there were so few places to hide and that was exactly the reason Severus hid there. Looking quickly about, Severus made a beeline for the wardrobe. The wardrobe was tall and narrow, but still big enough for Severus, embarrassingly slight for his age, to hide within the shadows of its interior. He climbed into the wardrobe, pulling the door closed – but due to a fault when it was being made; there was a gap between the doors, allowing him to see out of it, if he squinted. He slid down to the bottom of the wardrobe and wrapped his arms around his legs, hugging them to his chest.

Downstairs, the front door slammed shut and Severus knew his father had arrived home. He pressed his face against his knees and squeezed his eyes shut as the sound of an argument came from below. An argument about why Severus had failed to do his chores that day. His breath caught in his throat as the harsh sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoed through the household, meeting his ears like an extra form of torture. He heard his mother's cry of pain, following by a crash and a clang – that would be the table and cauldron being knocked over.

"Please," he whispered, the words pushing past his aching tongue, now swollen from biting into it, "make it stop." The words began falling from his lips repeatedly, morphing into a mantra of perpetual pleading. To what or to whom he pleaded, he never knew. All he knew was that his mother could take very little more of what Tobias would deal to her. She had been a strong Witch since the day she was born...but love made fools of even the strongest of people. She needed the sort of help he was, at his age, unable to provide.

He listened, his eyes stinging with tears that he tried not to let fall, as Tobias laid into Eileen, hands and boots assaulting her viciously. Severus choked back a sob and slipped his hands into his long, dark hair, gripping hard...as if doing that could help in anyway. Without even realizing it, he began to rock back and forth inside the wardrobe, choking back his sobs, trying to block out the sound of his mother being beaten in the kitchen. When silence fell below, his heart started to pound harshly against his ribcage.

Had Tobias passed out from the high level of alcohol in his blood? Had he left? Had someone heard the commotion and intervened? Severus knew he was hoping for miracles that would never happen. He had to be realistic; they would never be lucky enough for any of those things to occur. He calmed himself down, forced himself to pay close attention to his surroundings. He sucked in a breath when the staircase creaked. Tobias was on his way...and it would only be a matter of time before the man found him.

The tread of heavy boots passed Severus' bedroom door, heading towards his parents' bedroom – the most obvious hiding place in the house. Severus listened as Tobias tore the bedroom apart, cursing loudly as he did so. Severus wrapped his arms around his legs once more, making himself as small as possible – perhaps in a futile attempt to disappear altogether. The footsteps returned, growing louder and louder as Tobias pushed Severus' bedroom door open. Already he could smell the alcohol on his father's breath.

Covering his mouth to try to muffle his breathing, Severus listened closely. "I know you're here, boy." The voice of his nightmares ground the words out through clenched teeth. Severus tried not to whimper in fear. "I can smell your worthless hide." Nothing followed. There were no footsteps, no sounds of the man's breathing, no sound of the door closing. Severus was too much of a pessimist to believe the man had left, but he knew he had to check to be sure. With great care, Severus shifted as slowly and as silently as possible, bringing his eye closer to the tiny gap between the doors.

For a while, he saw nothing and then a bloodshot eye appeared a mere inch from his own. A strangled cry escaped Severus' throat and he lurched back, even as the wardrobe doors were wrenched open, revealing Tobias Snape at the height of his rage. Tobias reached into the wardrobe with his large hands. Instinctively, Severus thrust his leg out and kicked the man hard in the chest. Due to his size and lack of strength – a result of malnutrition – the action hardly did anything to deter his father.

Tobias wrapped his hands around the boy's calf. With a growl, the drunken lout hauled Severus out of the wardrobe, tugging hard when the boy's hands began scrabbling for purchase on the wood. He landed hard on the floor when Tobias threw him down, towering over him like a monster from the darkness of his nightmares. "Did you think I wouldn't find you, you scrawny little freak?! Think you're better than me, eh?!"

"Ten times better," Severus answered with a sense of confidence that did not exist. His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened as he tried to be brave...like his mother would want him to be. Masks; that was all he had left if Severus was honest with himself. Even at such a young age, he knew he had nothing but his masks. They were weak now, but one day...one day they would be strong and very little would slip passed. He promised this to himself as he stared up at the man he had once called 'Papa.'

Tobias dropped to his knees, almost squashing Severus under his weight as he sat on the boy's torso. The man struck Severus, the force knocking Severus' head hard onto the floor. Severus bit his tongue, hard, in his effort to stay silent. The sharp coppery taste of blood filled his mouth and he swallowed some of it back, while some of it continued to mingle with the saliva building in his mouth. His cheek stung terribly, but he knew that was the least of his worries at the moment. What worried him most was not knowing how far Tobias was willing to go this time.

The weight above him grew more intense and Severus wheezed, struggling to breathe. When he started fighting back, trying to get the pressure to lift so he could breathe, Tobias took it as a challenge. The man laid into him, striking him over and over, tenderizing his small body. By the time Tobias was through with him, Severus could hardly move. Every inch of him hurt, deeply, and he knew he had to look horrible. Getting to his feet, Tobias attacked him one final time, his books coming crashing down on Severus' left arm.

A white-hot agony raced from his arm to Severus' brain and a scream tore up from his throat for the first time during his assault. Smirking in triumph at his victory, his father left the room, leaving Severus in a heap on his bedroom floor. Tears spilled down Severus' bruised and swollen face, mingling with his blood. Sobbing, Severus pulled his throbbing arm towards himself, his body curling up, though that too sent spirals of agony through him. For a long time, Severus was left alone in his room, trying not to weep too loudly, while pain throbbed through every inch of him.

It was some time later, when the sounds of Tobias stumbling into his bedroom, falling onto the mattress, could be heard. Soft footsteps came slowly up the staircase, dragging almost, and Severus' door was pushed open, revealing Eileen Snape. The woman was beaten to the point where her son had trouble recognizing her and yet still she had managed to find the strength to climb the staircase and come to her son, wand gripped tightly in her hand. "Oh, Severus..." she murmured, her voice trailing off miserably at the sight of him.

She crossed the threshold and, slowly and carefully, eased her battered body down onto the floor, so that she could try to heal her son. The process was a torturous one, his mother having to pause and catch her breath in the middle of incantations designed to heal him. The charms took care of the open cuts on his body. Next, Eileen Snape reached into the pouch, sewn onto the front of her skirts, and withdrew a vial of purple ointment that did not look, at all, appealing. Squinting through eyes that were so swollen they were almost sealed shut, Severus watched as his mother opened the vial and coated her fingers in the unctuous ointment.

Soft whimpers escaped him as she gingerly massaged the ointment onto all the areas she was certain would be bruised the following day. "I know, sweetheart...I know," she murmured, drawing him into her arms as she finished with the tender areas. The only area she dared not touch was one that had resulted in a choked yell and that was his left arm. Wrapped up in his mother's arms, Severus felt no qualms about giving into his anguish – she was one of the few people who made him feel comfortable while pouring his heart out.

Not that he had had much experience with non-familial people, of course. The last time he had come in contact with someone he was not related to was quite a while ago – three years, if his numbers were correct, which he knew they were. He knew that the people he had been fortunate to meet would have long ago forgotten him...but he never forgot them. Not once. The memory of those vibrant green eyes was the only thing that helped him fall asleep at night – even if he would wake from nightmares later on.

When his piteous tears eventually came to a stop, Eileen, weary and pained from her own ordeal, helped Severus to his feet, out of his clothes, into a set of worn pyjamas and into bed. "There's not a lot I can do for your arm, Severus," she said quietly, her gaze darting between his arm and his face. "Your father will have to spare some time tomorrow and bring you to the pharmacy; it is more than I can mend. The pharmacist should know enough to say whether it needs to be seen by a Doctor and if it does...well...I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."

Severus knew what the woman meant. He had been aware of their financial struggles for some time, though he tried not to let his mother know that. In silence, he nodded and Eileen put on a brave smile and caressed his cheek lightly. "Try not to sleep on it." She brushed a kiss against his forehead and disappeared out the door, casting his room in darkness. For almost an hour and a half Severus lay awake, staring at the ceiling, his body tensed, almost expecting Tobias to return for another round of punishment for Severus' 'sins.'

When he was convinced that Tobias was not going to return that night, he finally began to relax. Severus let his mind wander back to that day in the playground, to the man with green eyes who had been so kind to him, though he must have looked and smelled something terrible...

To Be Continued.

Reviews are like chocolates; make the Dementors go away by leaving them...